You are correct that all the flanges are mild steel. This is standard in the automotive exhaust Industry. I do not think anyone wants to pay what it would cost for 3/8" Stainless plate to make flanges ......It would make the price absurd. We offer aluminized PIPE or stainless PIPE as a option. Not SS flanges. There is no need to go to the expense when a 3/8" plate of mild steel is perfectly compatible with aluminized steel or stainless steel. The mild steel flange in 3/8" will outlast the thin stainless tube. BTW Stainless exhaust will eventually rust........It rusts from the inside out due to the corrosive exhaust gases. Quality stainless will last about 20 years. We charge $100 extra for the stainless steel piping........... This covers the U-bends and extra labor to work with stainless and polish it out. This is what the actual cost to me is. I do not upcharge stainless products at all and a few of them I make less on. Here are a couple examples of others in the industry...... For any of you that have ever seen a Greddy TD05 kit.... The stainless steel Greddy headers have black flanges...Why ? because the flanges are mild steel and they are painted black. If you have ever seen a stillen test pipe in stainless steel they have silver flanges......This is because they are mild steel and painted silver. Stock stainless steel exhaust system have rusty flanges, Because the flanges are mild steel. Many Many others.......Most just leave the flanges raw to rust. Labree uses a high heat clear coating on the flanges to keep them looking good. FYI Labree makes Audi split down pipes that are of the same design as the Z downpipes. The Audi down pipes sell for $1500.00 They are stainless steel pipe, But they have mild steel flanges.
